…as she entered the stadium at Columbus’ Scioto Downs, with about 400 meters to go, she heard her left leg crack.

The leg had been sore on and off for the previous two weeks, prompting Berkshire coach Julie Cole to limit Markwardt in practice. When she heard the crack, Markwardt thought it was a muscle pull or tear. She thought she could gut it out to the finish line.

“There was a runner from one of our rival schools right in front of me,” she said. “I kept staring at the back of her jersey and pushing myself to catch her.”

But some 200 meters later, Markwardt heard the leg crack again. And again. Then there was a louder crack, and her entire leg gave out. She fell to the ground as onlookers winced at the sound and the sight of what happened.

One of Markwardt’s teammates, unaware of what had happened, encouraged her to get up. She tried, using her right leg. But as soon as she shifted weight to the left, the loudest crack yet came. And her leg gave out again.

“At that point, I knew what had happened. I knew my leg was broken pretty badly. And I knew I couldn’t get up again. So I started crawling,” she said.

She said she thought not of her coach, nor her parents, nor anyone else who had encouraged her to never give up, to see things to the finish. Instead, she thought of the countless stories she had heard about runners who collapsed before a race’s end and somehow found the courage to cross that last line. Even if her leg had given out at the 400-meter mark, she said, it wouldn’t have mattered. She was going to finish.

Jimson Lee

I am a Masters Athlete and Coach currently based in London UK. My other projects include the Bud Winter Foundation, writer for the IAAF New Studies in Athletics Journal (NSA) and a member of the Track & Field Writers of America.

SEARCH OR LOOKUP BY CATEGORY

Follow me on Twitter

SpeedEndurance TV

About Me

Online since 2002, with the addition of the Blog in 2007, SpeedEndurance.com is the book I never wrote with 2000+ articles.
I am a former 200m/400m sprinter, a Masters Athlete and Coach, who has lived in Canada, US, Italy, and now resides in London UK. My other projects include the Bud Winter Foundation, writer for the IAAF New Studies in Athletics Journal (NSA), and a member of the Track & Field Writers of America.

30 Day Free Coaching Program

Sign up for this Program and you will receive an email every day for the next 30 days with links to over 60 manuals!
Contributors include Clyde Hart, Tom Tellez, Dan Pfaff, Loren Seagrave, Don Chu, plus my free 36 page report on Jamaican Sprint Secrets, with insights to Stephen Francis and Glen Mills

Now Available!

Bud Winter's updated 1963 classic "Rocket Sprint Start" is now available.
The original book with Armin Hary and Dennis Johnson remains intact with an all new update using comparisons with Jamaican Sprinters.
A must read for anyone who coaches events that uses Starting Blocks.

Sign up for the FREE monthly Newsletter today and receive Clyde Hart's new 60 page manual on Sprints and Relays AND the 36 page Jamaican Sprint Secrets with insights to Stephen Francis and Glen Mills... the coaches of Asafa Powell & Usain Bolt!.

You'll also get coaching manuals from Tom Tellez, Loren Seagrave and Dan Pfaff.

Want more? How about Lee Evans famous "Train with Pain" 400 meter training from Stan Dowell?